A Google Earth image which was said to have shown the Loch Ness monster could
have been a boat which regularly tours the loch.

Earlier this week a British security guard claimed to have found the legendary creature using Google's satellite mapping programme.

The image, which can be seen by entering coordinates Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W in Google Earth, depicts a large object resembling a sea creature clearly visible beneath or on the surface of the water

Adrian Shine, a researcher on the Loch Ness project, called the new images "really intriguing" and said they deserved further study.

Following the report Google announced that its specially-altered trike camera – which is able to take eye-level images of areas that are inaccessible to Street View's camera cars – would be sent to Loch Ness on Thursday.

But it has now been suggested that the images are not of the mysterious creature but of the Ness Express, a boat which regularly tours the loch.